


Peter vs. The Demons

by the_one_a_m_writer



Series: Flags [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Deaf Clint Barton (is not technically mentioned in this story), GSRM Characters, Guys I'm on a mission to get everyone to use GSRM, LGBT+ Characters, Other, Queer Characters, San Francisco Pride Parade, Sensory Overload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 04:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16298135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_one_a_m_writer/pseuds/the_one_a_m_writer
Summary: Peter and the Avengers go to the pride parade, and Peter gets a little overwhelmed.





	Peter vs. The Demons

**Author's Note:**

> Things I've experienced:   
> San Diego Pride Parade   
> Being queer   
> Friends w/ someone who has social anxiety   
> Things I've not experienced:   
> Sensory Overload  
> Being Spider-Man   
> Dysphoria or anything associated w/ being not cis   
> San Francisco Pride Parade
> 
> apologies & feel free to correct me

[Record scratch. Freeze frame. Rewind.]

June 29th. 

But of course, when they stepped outside the door, everything didn’t go to plan. They set off walking, which wasn’t nice for Peter. 

Peter was itching to shoot webs. Their gait was uneven. They looked around at the top of every building. 

They didn’t like walking. 

Tony didn’t like walking either, except for dramatic effect. Maybe Steve should let Peter and Tony web-sling and fly respectively, overhead and in sight of the team. 

Rhodey, mask down, seemed perfectly content to clunk along in the Iron Patriot suit, but it must be nicer to fly. Sam, too. Pepper was wearing heels-- was she sure she was okay with this trek?

Peter lept half a foot in the air, but didn’t see much, encased as they were in the formation of heroes. 

Loki reached out her hand, and Peter took it. “Walking is tedious,” she said. 

Tension. 

Why were they walking? Steve’s blood itched to be running, at the very least. Thor, surely, must be bored with this travel. Bruce and Clint were padding along diligently. 

Stephen-- Stephen, who portalled everywhere! Who before becoming a magician, liked fast cars and no stops, just like Tony! was in step with everyone else. Fidgeting, if you could call it that. Trailing gold sparks. Touching fingertip to fingertip in a controlled, repeated motion. PT exercises?

“Can I webswing?” Peter asked finally, casting their gaze around at the group. None of the adults (except Loki, but while Loki may have been older than all of them, she and Thor counted closer to Asgardian teens or early twenties) were complaining, but you spend enough time working with people and you start to see. They are tolerating this walk, not enjoying it. 

Peter had always been a little bit of an empath, or maybe that had started when they got bit by the spider. Byproduct of the increased senses. 

“Do you have enough web?” Tony asked, which was good, because Steve wouldn’t have known to ask. 

“Yeah, I refilled the cartridges yesterday. And I keep extras now.”

“Good kid,” Tony said. “Pep?”

“Go for it,” Pepper said. “Stay in sight.”

Peter was gone practically before Steve saw them leave. Soon, they were zipping back and forth across the buildings. 

“We have about two blocks to go,” Pepper said.

“But they’re really long blocks,” Clint said. They all looked at him as if he should expect blocks to be this long. “I’m a suburban man,” Clint added with a shrug. 

Clint didn’t dislike walking, he just got bored of it. 

There were streams of people, all colorful, in the streets. The Avengers were not the most wildly costumed people around, but a swinging Spider-Man caught people’s eyes, and they cast their gazes around and saw the Avengers. Tony grinned but flipped his faceplate up, enclosing him in the armor. Rhodey did the same. 

There was a brave little kid who stumbled up next to Tony, who halted and knelt. “Io man?” the kid asked, touching Tony’s arm. 

“Yeah, I’m Iron Man,” Tony said. 

“I’m so sorry,” the breathless mother said, running up to fetch her child. She picked him up and popped him on her hip, where he could still see Tony but wasn’t within touching distance. “I hope he’s not bothering you.” 

Her wife joined her, holding a baby wearing little earmuffs to her chest. “Wow.”

“Bye!” the first woman said, coaxing her boy to wave goodbye. They moved on. 

“I should get those tiny earmuffs for Peter,” Tony joked, looking back at the baby. 

Peter was running along the rooftops, using web to get from building to building. When Tony waved, they waved back. 

“They’re going to have to come down eventually,” Pepper said. 

“Eventually,” Tony said. 

Eventually came when they encountered the field before the stage. The crowd was tighter packed, and the sea of people endless. No buildings offered Peter the opportunity to swing away. 

They dropped smoothly into the middle of the Avengers. 

With Tony in front, Rhodey in back, Steve to the left and Thor to the right, the crowd gave the inside of the Avengers diamond some breathing room. Natasha, Clint, Pepper, Loki, Sam, Stephen, Scott, and Hope helped, bounding the diamond further. Bruce and Peter gladly took the solitude offered them in the center. Bruce wasn’t a fan of crowds. 

Bruce was calm, though. Bruce was always calm. Peter grabbed his hand as soon as they dropped, and it seemed to help. 

The crowd wanted to pack tighter and would not be deterred. Steve was forced inside, and so was Rhodey. They ended up in a double column of people, snaking through the crowd pressing in on all sides. 

When someone brushed Peter’s arm the first time, they jumped sideways and collided with Bruce. 

Peter was as sleep deprived as the average highschooler. They were nervous about the inevitability of the papers picking up on Spider-Man’s lack of gender, and they were full of anticipation... excitement. 

There were a lot of people here. 

Someone stumbled, and fell back on Peter a little before they recovered their balance. It was no issue for Peter to keep themselves upright, but the sensation of being squished wasn’t fun. 

No, it really wasn’t fun at all; even though people aren’t like concrete, Peter didn’t like being trapped. They were afraid of being trapped, maybe; had been since the... 

The concrete that fell on them, when the Vulture had crushed them under the-- 

Everyone was being so loud. Did they have to be loud? Peter could hear every conversation. Babies were crying. Peter didn’t like hearing people cry. The boots on this suit were thin, Peter could feel the bumps in the concrete through them. Did they thin out on the walk? It was bright out, really bright out, even with the dampeners in the suit. Peter wished they could control the brightness, but the suit didn’t give them that option. Peter screwed their eyes shut instead, but that didn’t help, because they needed those to know where they were going and which way was up. 

So that’s how Peter ended up crashing into Steve’s back and falling down. 

Steve’s first thought was  _ again? _ which he felt really bad for in a few seconds, when he realized that Peter was down and had scrunched into a ball on the pavement. 

They needed to keep moving. 

Steve made the decision that needed to be made-- he hauled his fallen to their feet and slung their arm around Steve’s shoulder. Peter was short, but Steve could handle walking in a crouch for a minute. 

Peter made it much easier by clinging to him, sticky, so that when Steve took a step and accidentally straightened his leg too much, Peter simply came along for the ride. 

Steve looked around; there were other people holding people, but most of the carried were small children. One couple-- oh, two couples! A short teenaged woman was riding piggyback on an ace-flag-adorned girl the same age. Another, slightly older woman with pink-purple-blue paint on her cheeks was clinging to the back of a tall athletic man. Steve put Peter down and whispered in their ear, “You wanna ride piggyback?”

Peter nodded. 

Steve hoisted them onto their back. Pepper, who’d dropped back to watch the whole exchange, didn’t say anything.

Peter’s eyes were shut, and it was dark, and it was a little quieter up here, and as long as they held onto Steve, all the touching was more-- same. 

Tony had been periodically looking back at his team, and only just caught this whole development in Peter’s state. Inside the suit, he linked FRIDAY to Karen. 

“Hey,” he said softly. 

“I didn’t mean to fall over,” Peter said. “I can come down now.”

“No, make Steve work a little,” Tony joked. “What happened?”

“It’s very loud,” Peter whispered. “Bright.”

“Possible sensory overload,” FRIDAY suggested helpfully so that only Tony could hear. 

“Karen, dim Peter’s suit to 90% blackout,” Tony said. “Noise cancellation 50%.” 

Peter gasped, and sat up straighter. 

They didn’t seem to want to get back on the ground, but after a while, it became apparent that they were there for the view. 

...

June 30th. 

The Avengers had a float which Peter had a hand in decorating. It was sturdy, and included a human sized landing pad for Tony, Sam, and Rhodey (Thor was forbidden from flying) as well as an artful arial structure that Peter was allowed free range of. 

Tony had taken away the “parental blocks” on the dimming and muffling controls of Peter’s suit. 

Sometimes, Peter sat down on the front of the float and turned the muffle up to 100% and lowered the dim down to 0% so they could watch everything happening in full color. 

Tony, Steve, and Pepper fielded most questions. Natasha was allowed to speak, but preferred not to. Sam and Rhodey didn’t receive as many questions, but Pepper liked directing general ones their way. One interviewer was allowed access to Bruce, who politely told them he was glad that the opinions of the world were changing and he would be keeping his mind open in the future, no further comment. Stephen stayed out of it as much as possible. One interviewer was allowed access to Peter. 

“You’re an inspiration to everyone who doesn’t sit on the gender binary, I’m sure,” said the young reporter, who was wearing a demisexual flag pin, after having confirmed that the team was matching their identity to their colors (except for Dr. Strange). 

“Yeah. You know who else isn’t binary?” Peter asked. They waved Loki over. 

“Oh! Loki!” the reporter exclaimed. “Hi! Would you like to introduce yourself?”

“Loki,” Loki said. “And on the other days, still Loki. It’s gender-neutral.” She raised a wrist. “Pink for female...”

“Pronouns,” Peter cut in. 

“Pronouns. Blue for male.”

“Okay!” the reporter agreed. “I’m Celeste, you can call me Cessie. By the way. Spider-Man, would you like to introduce yourself? I forgot to do that, I’m sorry.” 

“Spider-Man,” Peter said. “I’m agender, so they/them, but you can still call me Spider-Man, I don’t really mind.”

“What would you like to say to anyone struggling with their identity right now?”

Loki grinned reassuringly at Peter.

“It’s, um, it’s okay not to know! But it’s also okay to know even if you’re young. And it’s really good to tell someone,” Peter finished in a rush, glancing back at the Avengers. 

There was a little rainbow rubber duck at the helm of the float. 

**Author's Note:**

> it would be cool if i could post things the moment i wrote them huh


End file.
